Sad and beautiful - Couple Married 72 Years Dies Holding Hands

[PeaceNikki]

"They brought them in the same room in intensive care and put them together -- and they were holding hands in ICU. They were not really responsive," said Dennis Yeager.
Gordon died at 3:38 p.m. holding hands with his wife as the family they built surrounded them.

"It was really strange, they were holding hands, and dad stopped breathing but I couldn't figure out what was going on because the heart monitor was still going," said Dennis Yeager.
"But we were like, he isn't breathing. How does he still have a heart beat? The nurse checked and said that's because they were holding hands and it's going through them. Her heart was beating through him and picking it up."

"They were still getting her heartbeat through him," said Donna Sheets. At 4:48 p.m., exactly one hour after Gordon died, Norma passed too.

Read more: http://www.kcci.com/news/29528191/detail.html#ixzz1bFYlnpwx

[hamsterjill]

1. How incredible!

I'm guessing that my own life would have been greatly enriched had I the opportunity to know these two individuals!

That said - safe passage to them both.

[Uncle Joe]

2. That's a most touching story.

Thanks for the thread, PeaceNikki.

[PeaceNikki]

3. INNIT!??!

I... I have something in my eye...

<sniff>

[Old and In the Way]

4. Thanks for posting....

sad, but a beautiful story nonetheless.

[Control-Z]

33. I don't find it to be sad at all.

72 years - beginning and ending them together - is like a fairy tale. My mom was 27 when she died. My dad was 54. I may live to be 100 but I'm alone alone now and there is little chance that will change. What a lovely life that would have been.

[lumpy]

53. Not sad to me also. Wonderful that two people have stayed

together throughout life and death. Something to be celebrated.

[zeemike]

54. It shows us what life could be.

But few ever achieve such a wonderful ending.
If philosophers and great souls controlled the world they would be trying to figure our ways to make that achievable for as many as possible.

[TwilightGardener]

5. Aww. That's the ideal way to go, isn't it.

[FedUpWithIt All]

6. Beautiful, thank you for sharing.

My children just lost their Great grandmother a couple of weeks ago, survived by her husband of 70 years. This story, of course, brought them to mind and warmed my heart.

[PeaceNikki]

7. Awww. All my best to your family.

Especially difficult for her surviving husband I am sure. :hug:

[FedUpWithIt All]

13. Thank you PeaceNikki

:hug:

He is surrounded by lots of family and a ton of kids :)

[sammytko]

8. My great-uncle and aunt died like this

He had a stroke and died. When she saw that, she threw herself on him and died of a heart attack.

They were buried together a few days later. They didn't have any kids, so they were all they had.

[PRETZEL]

9. My grandparents died in a somewhat similar fashion

and for anyone who says that someone can't die of a broken heart, this story and the story of my grandparents prove to me otherwise.

My grandmother had suffered a heart attack many years ago. She died in the hospital in the morning. My grandfather, my mom and dad, along with two of my aunts took him home a couple of hours later. He sat in his chair for a little bit and then said to my dad, "I don't want to live anymore". He apparently was dead by the time he hit the floor.

It is amazing what the love for another person and the effects that losing that person can do.

May the have in eternity the same love they had on earth.

[renate]

10. wow. Did that help ease the pain for your family, or make it harder?

(I can't tell whether it was your mom's or dad's parents.)

Losing two parents in one day would be beyond horrendous for those left behind, but the profundity of their love would be an amazing legacy--as with the other stories shared here.

So sweet and beautiful and so sad, too.

[PRETZEL]

16. Honestly, since I was only a teen

I think it was easier because we could morn them together.

They were my mom's parents.

The hardest was 1993. My dad lost his mom in February. That was hard but she was well into her nineties when she passed. The Sunday after Thanksgiving my mom passed. One month short of her 65th birthday.

[Brickbat]

11. My grandfather died of a broken heart, but it took a couple of years.

It was as painful and debilitating as any physical malady. The light in his life was gone, and it showed.

[PeaceNikki]

29. Awww

:hug:

[roguevalley]

35. my papa died and ten months later mama died too. Couldn't

make it without him. She told me she felt someone sit on her bed a few before she died. He was waiting for her to help her. Much hugs to all on this list who have lost folks and god bless these two. How lovely they were. and are.

[Odin2005]

43. I've read that elderly widowers rarely live more than a year after their wives die.

:(

[reggie the dog]

12. i would have liked to have had a story like that, too bad my wife

walked out on me after just 7 years..... my daughter still tells me several times a week (i have her one week of two) i want mommy and daddy at the same time to which i just can tell her "mommy didnt want to live with daddy anymore". i dreamed of making a family and growing old together with someone and now i dont think i can trust anyone again like that, i cant imagine buliding my life around somoeone else and making a kid only to lose it all so the other can leave to find their soulmate while they are still young enough.... because of that, this wonderful story actually makes me sad, sad because it is something i can never have

[Prometheus Bound]

17. Never say never Reggie.

[Edweird]

32. Why not? Just because you have not found your 'soulmate' yet doesn't mean you never will.

Furthermore, being free of a partner that isn't right for you gives you the opportunity to find the one that is right for you and do so honestly and honorably.

[roguevalley]

36. Reggie, you will find someone. Whatever you two had to do you

did it together. Your daughter is your consolation. Don't give up. Love will find you, honey. HUGS!

[FailureToCommunicate]

44. I just returned from a wedding of a dear old friend. He was marrying

his high school 1st love - after each of them had had marriages, and kids, with others. They looked jubilant. The kids were just happy that their parent was happy again, and looking forward to a happier,less stress-filled home life.

Hang in there Reggie! It CAN happen.

[grantcart]

45. somewhere in your universe is a woman who is thinking the same thing

Going on 30 years with Mrs. Grantcart who helped me raise my daughter from my first marriage.

[reggie the dog]

46. thanks to you and the others who give me these kind words

[Chimichurri]

14. That's how I wanna go! The pictures along with the story touched my heart.

[Morning Dew]

15. How sad and sweet. Thanks for posting it.

My dad often says that he and mom hold hands to keep from killing each other.

He's joking, of course.

[Arkansas Granny]

18. If that doesn't bring a tear to your eye, I don't know what it would take.

[PeaceNikki]

19. I agree.

[HappyMe]

23. Yeah. You would have to have a heart of stone.

[Auntie Bush]

28. Or just be a Rethuglican.

[malaise]

20. Absolutely beautiful

What a way to go!!

[progressoid]

21. Dammit

there's something in my eye.

[Bake]

22. That's the way I want to go out.

With my darling Baby of 27 years (so far).

That is so touching.

Bake

[tk2kewl]

24. Sounds like they had an inifinely greater fortune than any billionair could ever hope for

peace

[redqueen]

25. +1

[reggie the dog]

47. such love is all i have really wanted out of life since i was 16

i am just not from a generation that had many people like that, i was 16 in 1995, had i been 16 in 1945 i would have fit right in

[Arugula Latte]

26. What a story.

He just had that rascally look. You can just tell he was a "card" and a kidder. I'm glad they went at the same time.

[RockaFowler]

27. I can't wait to go home and hug my husband

I'm going on 11 years. Here's to 60 more :)

[demmiblue]

30. The juxtaposition tells a tale...

the wife leaning in in the first picture vs. the husband leaning in in the second picture.

In the end, they leaned toward each other.

Beautiful.

:cry:

[Timbuk3]

31. That's beautiful! n/t

[Botany]

34. 2 of the richest people in the world

n/t

[DFW]

37. Reminds me of my parents

They never made it that far, but my dad had pancreatic cancer, and he was supposed to have
been long gone by the day their 50th wedding anniversary came. He held on for it and another
six weeks. My mom didn't make it another 2 years without him.

As for me, I've now been with my lovely lady for 37 years, and with my medical history, I'll
be lucky to have another 15, but I'll take every minute fate allows me, just like these two did.

[Raine]

38. BEAUTIFUL story ... THANKS for posting it. nt

[Ellipsis]

39. True love...

we should all be so lucky.


Same smile after all those years.

Again, true love.

[ObaMania]

40. Awesome story.

We should all hope to go that way.

[whathehell]

41. Beautiful...That's all I can say.

[Odin2005]

42. !!!!!!!!!

:cry:

[jwirr]

48. May we all go that way. With love surrounding us.

[lucca18]

49. So beautiful....

[Arugula Latte]

50. Something about this story is really bothering me, upon reflection.

At first I reacted like everyone else (see post 26). But then it hit me -- a 94-year-old man was driving a car? Really? And he pulled out in front of a driver. That guy easily could have been killed, or a vanload of kids, or anybody in his path. Are there no age limits on driving?

[Rozlee]

51. I read on MSN that a woman in the other vehicle they hit was severely injured.

She had her back and neck broken. And Mr. Yeager was possibly going to have his license revoked for a prior incident. Don't know what that was all about. It's sad though. I have a close family member in his early 70s that was recently diagnosed with dementia and can't accept his limitations and no one can convince him to quit driving. Neurologist really should be required by state law to report all cases of dementia and Alzheimers to the DMV. Still, in spite of being a wet blanket, I think it's a beautiful story.

[Arugula Latte]

52. That is awful.

I know that there is a lot of gray area with seniors and driving, but, jeez ... "no driving at age 94" seems pretty obvious.

[InvisibleTouch]

60. My great-grandmother drove competently into her upper 90's.

It's a case by case issue, IMO, not a blanket cut-off age.

[PeaceNikki]

58. I totally agree. Thank you for pointing that out.

The thought certainly crossed my mind when I read this story and it's a real shame... but I failed to see what happened to the other(s) involved. Tragic. :(

[LisaL]

59. Bothers me as well.

Apparently the woman in another car that this guy collided with suffered a broken neck and internal bleeding. But press just wants to make this into a charming story.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44960859/ns/health-aging/#.TqEzFXLZWSp

[sammytko]

61. Yes, I thought about that after I posted

I was almost hit head on twice in the military commissary parking lot and side street the side street is divided and in front of the elementary. The elderly people were on the wrong side. They looked scared as heck. They didnt know where to go.

Scary part is that they had to drive down a very busy city street and possibly a freeway to get there.

[Liberal_in_LA]

55. k&r

[AikidoSoul]

56. When couples lose a partner, the one remaining often dies soon afterwards.

It has always amazed me how often this happens. The timing on the death of these two partners is the most extraordinary that I've heard of.

This is a very touching story. I'm not saddened by it at all. What a joy it would be to be with the one you love the most when you die... one whom you have shared a long life with.

Thanks for posting... :hi:

[Bake]

57. That's how I want to go.

With my Baby of 27+ years. I'm ready to go.

Bake